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IRT Eastern Parkway Line (mtamaster edition)
The Eastern Parkway Line is one of the lines of the IRT division of the New York City Subway, stretching from Downtown Brooklyn south along Flatbush Avenue and east along Eastern Parkway to Crown Heights. After passing Utica Avenue, the line rises onto an elevated structure and becomes the New Lots Line to the end at Linden Boulevard in East New York, Brooklyn. The west end of the Eastern Parkway Line is at the Joralemon Street Tunnel under the East River. In a 1981 list of "most deteriorated subway stations", the MTA listed Borough Hall and Court Street stations as part of the Eastern Parkway Line. The chaining designation "M" (Joralemon Street Tunnel) becomes "E" (Eastern Parkway Line) just west of the Borough Hall platforms; the Court Street and northern Borough Hall stations are chained "K" (Clark Street Tunnel). However, as of 2007, emergency exit signs label Court Street as an IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line station, and the two parts of Borough Hall are signed as being along the Broadway – Seventh Avenue and IRT Lexington Avenue Lines. The IRT Nostrand Avenue Line splits from the local tracks of the Eastern Parkway Line south of the Franklin Avenue station. History The Joralemon Street Tunnel, opened on January 1, 1908, was the first underwater subway tunnel connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn. Clifford Milburn Holland served as the assistant engineer during the construction of the tunnel. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on February 9, 2006. The original segment of the line included four stations from Borough Hall to Atlantic Avenue near the Flatbush Avenue LIRR station. Due to overcrowding on the Joralemon Street Tunnel, Holland decided to build a second tunnel under Clark Street providing passengers with a direct route to travel between Brooklyn and the west side of Manhattan. Construction of the Clark Street Tunnel began on October 12, 1914, using a tunneling shield in conjunction with compressed air. The north tube was holed through on November 28, 1916. At 5,900 feet long, with about 3,100 feet underwater, the tunnel was finally opened for revenue service on Tuesday, April 15, 1919. This line was expanded as a part of the Dual Contracts from Atlantic Avenue east. The IRT Eastern Parkway Line was built from 1915 to 1918, from the section east of the Atlantic Avenue station to Utica Avenue and down the Nostrand Avenue Subway to Flatbush Avenue. On August 23, 1920, the Eastern Parkway Line was extended from Atlantic Avenue to Heights – Utica Avenue. The new trains would be served by trains from Seventh Avenue. On October 10, 1920 three stations, that were not ready to be opened with the rest of the line at Bergen Street, Grand Army Plaza] and Eastern Parkway – Brooklyn Museum were opened. Bellmouths were created east of Utica Avenue for provisions for two subway lines. One was a continuation of the Eastern Parkway line to Broadway Junction using the express tracks. These tracks are used to layover terminating 4''' (and sometimes '''5) trains. Another provision was for an IRT Utica Avenue line that would branch off ot the local tracks and go to Flatbush Avenue, near Kings Plaza. The new line would reroute 3''' trains to this line, with the '''4 extended to the New Lots Line if it was ever built. The Utica line is being proposed is part of de Blasio's "One New York" plan which aims to improve transit, reduce emissions, and fight poverty. Extent and service There are four subway services that operate on the line: Route description The IRT Eastern Parkway Line enters Brooklyn through the Joralemon Street Tunnel from the IRT Lexington Avenue Line and continues to run under the street that the tunnel was named after, until after Borough Hall. East of Adams Street and Boerum Plaza, the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line merges with the line and it runs under Fulton Street, then turns southeast under Flatbush Avenue, which also has the BMT Brighton Line beneath it. The first station along this segment is Nevins Street, which contains a never used lower level, and then joins Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center, the end of the oldest section of the line. Between Bergen Street and Grand Army Plaza, the line splits around the BMT Brighton Line. East of Grand Army Plaza, the line finally moves under its namesake, the first station serving the Brooklyn Museum. The next station is a complex near the Brooklyn Botanic Garden that serves the BMT Franklin Avenue Line and the beginning of the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line, which branches off to the south shortly afterwards at Rogers Avenue Junction. The last three stations are a two-over-two track layout with a platform on each level. Afterwards, the IRT Eastern Parkway Line ends under Ralph Avenue, one block east of its originally intended terminus, whereas the local tracks become the IRT New Lots Line, branching off to the southeast emerging from the ground near Buffalo Avenue at Lincoln Terrace Park.